What's hot: Rare QWERTY bar design, compact and affordable.
What's not: Small screen, not terribly fast.
Reviewed July 18, 2011 by Lisa Gade, Editor
in Chief (twitter: @lisagade)
The HTC Status is AT&T's affordable Android QWERTY messenger. It competes with the HP Veer 4G and QWERTY features phones, and it's priced right at $49 with a 2 year contract. The smartphone's design is pleasing and interesting: it has a curve that not only looks cool but feels good against the face, and it's small by today's standards. If you're looking for a pocketable and affordable smartphone for messaging, particularly Facebook, the HTC Status is worth a look. In fact, it's currently the closest thing to a Facebook phone, and it has a dedicated Facebook launcher key that glows when you've got new messages. If you're not into Facebook, the phone is also good for email, texting and other social networks, and HTC's Sense 2.1 for Messenger Phones has excellent support for other networks like Twitter.
The Status isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but we don't expect it to be a dual core screamer given the budget price tag. It runs on an 800MHz Qualcomm CPU with Android OS 2.3. It's responsive enough when launching apps and navigating around the device, but multimedia bogs it down, including AT&T's video streaming services. There's no Adobe Flash Player, nor is it currently available for download on the Status, and we assume that's due to the relatively slow CPU. Our other complaint is the relatively small 2.6", 480 x 320 touch screen. It's hard to read text on a screen that small, and the phone's landscape orientation means you'll have to hold the phone sideways to use apps that only run in portrait orientation.
The HTC Status has 3G on AT&T's bands, and both reception and call quality are above average, making this a good voice phone and a good phone for use in signal-challenged areas. There's no on-screen dialer; instead you'll use the embedded number pad on the QWERTY keyboard to enter phone numbers. HTC's contact management is excellent, and it's easy to search for contacts and make calls from your address book. Facebook updates and chat are easy thanks to the very good QWERTY keyboard. We like the domed keys and their slightly rough texture that prevents finger slippage.
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Conclusion
If you're looking for a budget messaging smartphone with Android and social networking know-how, the HTC Status isn't a bad pick. It has excellent voice quality and reception, and it looks cool too. We like the excellent QWERTY keyboard and interesting design, but the small, low resolution capacitive touch screen isn't great for multimedia and extended reading. While it's no multimedia top pick, it is an excellent choice if you hate big phones and want something that fits easily in a pocket.
Price: $49 with a 2 year contract, $399 without contract.
Display:2.6", 480 x 320 capacitive touch screen. Runs in landscape mode.
Battery:Lithium
Ion rechargeable. Battery is user replaceable.
1250 mAh.
Performance:800 MHz Qualcomm MSM7227 CPU. 512 megs RAM and 512 megs flash ROM with ~ 86 megs internal storage available.
Size:4.49
x 2.54 x 0.42 inches. Weight: 4.32 ounces.
Phone:GSM quad band with 3G HSDPA 7.2Mbps on AT&T's 850/1900MHz bands. Has Mobile Hotspot feature.
Camera:5 megapixel autofocus rear main camera with LED flash and VGA front camera.
Audio:Built
in speaker, mic and 3.5mm standard stereo headphone
jack.
Networking:Integrated
WiFi 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth.
Software:Android OS 2.3.3 Ginberbread with HTC Sense 2.1 for messaging phones. Standard Google Android apps including the webkit web browser, email, gmail, YouTube, Gtalk and Maps & Navigation. AT&T software: AT&T Navigator, AT&T QR code scanner, AT&T Live TV, Yellow Pages and WiFi Hotspot app. HTC and 3rd party software: HTC Sense, Facebook, Facebook Chat, HTC Likes, HTC Transfer, Voice Dialer (Nuance), Mirror and Friendstream.
